The table costs about the same as a year of in-state tuition at UNH. University officials said the first time they heard about it was when they read a story in the student newspaper.

"Immediately, we came out and said, 'This was wrong. This was a mistake,'" spokeswoman Erika Mantz said.

Holloway Commons dining hall is at the center of the UNH campus, and it just underwent a $10 million renovation. The custom-made table with decorative spoons, recycled metal railings and LED lights has attracted controversy.

"Our dining services people really wanted to incorporate a more communal table, something a little a larger that seats 16 people and a place where the chefs could do demonstrations," Mantz said.

Administrators supported the concept, but not the cost. The $17,570 came from the hospitality services budget.

Some students said they see it as art.

"I mean, for an art piece, I don't think $17,000 is that much money," sophomore Matthew Johnston said.

Others took issue with the table's price tag.

"It's just kind of annoying that a year of college for me can be a place to sit at," sophomore Riley Kingsbury said.

"I have a lot of student loans I'm going to have to pay off, and my family's working pretty hard to pay off all that stuff," sophomore Griffin Sisk said. "I mean, we could find better ways to spend money than LED tables."

Mantz said UNH is trying to determine how the table was purchased.

"We believe at this point that this was an anomaly, but we're doing a full review to see what happened and what maybe needs to change to make sure it does not happen again," she said.